ArticleAmerican journal of respiratory and critical care medicine2012
Sleep-disordered breathing and cancer mortality: results from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study.
Article in American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 205 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
205 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 443 citations in OpenAlex.
- CPAP to Reduce the Risk of Cancer in OSA?-A Meta-Analysis of 3 RCTs.Journal of sleep research · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical Practice Guideline: Clinical Efficacy of Nasal Surgery in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.Clinical and experimental otorhinolaryngology · 2023Guideline
- Chronic intermittent hypoxia, a hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea, promotes 4T1 breast cancer development through endothelin-1 receptors.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Obstructive sleep apnea and the risk of mortality in patients with lung cancer: a meta-analysis.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2022Pooled it
- Association of obstructive sleep apnea and nocturnal hypoxemia with all-cancer incidence and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Sleep Disorders in Cancer-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Associations of variants In the hexokinase 1 and interleukin 18 receptor regions with oxyhemoglobin saturation during sleep.PLoS genetics · 2019Pooled it
- Vascular endothelial growth factor levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2017Pooled it
- An Official American Thoracic Society Statement: The Importance of Healthy Sleep. Recommendations and Future Priorities.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2015Guideline
- Morning Chronotype Is Associated with Improved Adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure among Individuals with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2023Trial
- A new predictive model for continuous positive airway pressure in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2017Trial
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- Cancer History and Subjective Sleepiness in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Real-World Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluating the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in adults with and without metabolic syndrome using real-world data.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Association of nasopharynx cancer with obstructive sleep apnea.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Hypoxemia-induced TIGIT expression in obstructive sleep apnea is reversible with continuous positive airway pressure.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Obstructive sleep apnea and lung cancer: molecular underpinnings and clinical translational prospects.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Intermittent Hypoxia Impairs Cognitive Function and Promotes Mitophagy and Lysophagy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome Rat Model.Molecular biotechnology · 2025Article
145 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleSleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been associated with total and cardiovascular mortality, but an association with cancer mortality has not been studied. Results from in vitro and animal studies suggest that intermittent hypoxia promotes cancer tumor growth.
objectivesThe goal of the present study was to examine whether SDB is associated with cancer mortality in a community-based sample.
methodsWe used 22-year mortality follow-up data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort sample (n = 1,522). SDB was assessed at baseline with full polysomnography. SDB was categorized using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the hypoxemia index (percent sleep time below 90% oxyhemoglobin saturation). The hazards of cancer mortality across levels of SDB severity were compared using crude and multivariate analyses. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
resultsAdjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking, SDB was associated with total and cancer mortality in a dose-response fashion. Compared with normal subjects, the adjusted relative hazards of cancer mortality were 1.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.5-2.7) for mild SDB (AHI, 5-14.9), 2.0 (95% CI, 0.7-5.5) for moderate SDB (AHI, 15-29.9), and 4.8 (95% CI, 1.7-13.2) for severe SDB (AHI ≥ 30) (P-trend = 0.0052). For categories of increasing severity of the hypoxemia index, the corresponding relative hazards were 1.6 (95% CI, 0.6-4.4), 2.9 (95% CI, 0.9-9.8), and 8.6 (95% CI, 2.6-28.7).
conclusionsOur study suggests that baseline SDB is associated with increased cancer mortality in a community-based sample. Future studies that replicate our findings and look at the association between sleep apnea and survival after cancer diagnosis are needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.